


The Storm

by dagonst



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Loki, Dark Thor, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dagonst/pseuds/dagonst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor changed - then returns, changed again.  Loki scrambles to catch up, and falls in with those Midgard has assembled to oppose him.  Written for a kinkmeme prompt  (paraphrased): at the end of the movie Thor, Thor is the one who takes the fall, and Loki is left behind to atone; then the Avengers happen.  Canonical character death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Not mine. The dialogue from Avengers is especially not mine.

###### 0\. Selvig

http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/11065.html?view=32778041#t32778041  
Thor bounded up from the Tesseract's trans-dimensional hiccup with a hearty, "My friends!" and it went straight to hell from there. Thor needed the Tesseract, probably has better title to it than anyone on this planet, but SHIELD didn't see it that way. So SHIELD blew up their base, and all his equipment with it. Eric Selvig stuck with Thor and the Tesseract.

And the sniper. Thor had carried a staff, and he'd apologized to the SHIELD sniper, and just touched (stabbed) him with it, and then the sniper took Thor's side against SHIELD. He's how they got out, as Eric clutched his briefcase and wondered how long it would take to dig the Tesseract out of that much rubble. He gives Eric the creeps.

They drove out of the base into a thunderstorm, the worst Eric’s ever seen. With Thor in the open back of the truck, and the sniper driving like he can see through all the rain. The only thing Eric saw, and he wishes he hadn’t, was lightning striking a helicopter and blowing it right out of the sky.

He was asleep when they finally stopped, somewhere in Nevada. Or California. Not Mexico, because when the sniper comes back with supplies, he has pop-tarts.

Thor’s position - which he’s been making known to anyone willing to listen, at length - seems reasonable. Loki, who is really Thor's younger brother, went insane - usurped the throne of Asgard, proved himself unfit to rule, and tried to destroy an entire world to boot. And Thor thinks he stopped him, knows their father woke from his sleep. But as long as Loki stands near the throne, all the realms are in danger. Thor has gathered new allies; he means to use the Asgardian artifact, the Tesseract, to open their way to Earth and then Asgard. And his new weapon, spear, that’s in case Loki meets him here, on Midgard, which Thor thinks unlikely. Eric hopes he’s right about that, considering what happened last time.

But Thor has no laughter left in him. Thor is a thousand years old, remembered on Earth as a god. Eric met him last year, and barely recognizes him. And there's the archer, Hawkeye, at his shoulder, with an unnatural blind loyalty. He puts that in his report to SHIELD. But he doesn’t say that it worries him as much as the lack of shielding on the Tesseract, because he doesn’t want them to decide to pull him out. The email takes a long time to send from wherever they are. And when he looks up, the sniper is standing in the doorway.

###### 1\. Loki

Loki adjusts his cufflinks before descending the staircase to mill amongst the sheep of Midgard. He strikes one man, then another. Lets them see him armed for battle before herding the pathetic lot of them out under the open sky. 

"I am Loki of Asgard," he tells them. "Will you not meet my challenge? Have you no heroes to protect you?” His smile grows. “Then _kneel_." Loki is walking a fine line; it makes it all the sweeter when the mortals do as they’re told. Save one old man who has a lecture left in him. Loki grins through his irritation. He needs to make a spectacle of himself, after all. Wants to be seen by Heimdall and Odin, and any who care to look at this primitive world. And by Thor.

And then Midgard's heroes descend: the first carrying only a shield, and then another in full armor. 

The sky remains still and silent as he fights the mortal heroes, exchanging meaningless taunts. Loki remarks on the armor: “You wear Thor’s colors. Has he turned coward, that he sends you in his place?” 

The armored one steps backwards, raises his helmet, and folds his arms in an odd gesture. 

“Okay, time. First: I’ve got trademarks, these are my colors. And, you’re saying _you_ aren’t Thor’s army?”

###### 2\. Iron Man

Tony calls a time-out once he decides that the new guy is not on Team Thor. Any enemy of Thor’s is a potential ally or bargaining chip. And he obviously needs the adult supervision. Loki looks up at the stars, shrugs, and says he has nothing better to do than go with them. Tony counts that as a peaceful surrender. At least until the heavens open up, and Thor steals him right out of their plane. (Note to Jarvis: Thor flies.) A skirmish and some really interesting electrical effects follow. Captain America levels part of a forest. (Note to Jarvis: Donate to reforestation efforts wherever this is.) Thor takes off.

"You let him get away!? You - you _imbeciles_ , you -." The new Asgardian - Loki, god-of-mischief-per-Wikipedia, just what they all need right now - stalks out from the edge of the felled forest, arm held awkwardly to his chest. Tony notes past the ringing in his entire body that this would have been a good time for him to sneak away, or teleport if he can - the SHIELD file on him basically says ‘Thor’s brother, dynastic quarrel, bad news’. But instead of leaving, Loki's bitching him and Captain America out, for... oh. Interfering for his plan to draw Thor out into the open, and then take him back to Asgard. Good plan.

From where he’s standing, though, it looks like Thor left Loki behind on purpose, and now Loki is upset about being stood up. Or the two planned this whole scene for Captain America’s benefit, maybe. But to hell with it. 

"We're working on a way to track the Tesseract," Tony offers. "Dunno what you call it - shiny cube of alien energy that Thor’s got hold of? Unless you've got a backup plan, you should come with."

"I should not _need_ a second plan to deal with Thor," the god - demigod? is he actually immortal? - says, but it’s more whining than an actual refusal. So they take him up to Coulson.

Coulson is in what Tony thinks of as the focus-group room. Not a task force, because task forces do not include every civilian the target has ever spoken to and Tony Stark. Whatever, it’s the nearest source of coffee until he finds box 42 in the lab. Coulson must wish he had a task force. Or the Avengers Initiative; it’s probably not a coincidence they pulled Bruce Banner in. 

“So, there’s coffee. Doctor Jane Foster, um - some other people -” 

Coulson clicks his pen shut and sets it down, hopefully planning to take over the meet-and-greet. Loki has already turned to watch him. “Welcome to SHIELD. Why are you looking for Thor, Mister - ?“

“You know my name,” Loki - Odinsson, right? says. “I would see Thor alive, and returned to Asgard. From you, I would know his plans. I would know where Eric Selvig is to be found. You have gathered the rest of Thor’s associates; why is he not here?” His affect is flat - subdued, compared to Stuttgart. 

“You know who we are,” the co-ed says, looking up from her phone at last.

“Yes, Miss Lewis.”

“Creep,” she mutters.

“And what do you intend to do with the Tesseract,” Coulson asks after glancing at his papers. He probably doesn’t actually have a checklist of debrief questions for Norse gods. 

“The Allfather would have that returned to Asgard as well.”

“Don’t be shy, at least four of us have called dibs on it,” Tony butts in.

Coulson represses a sigh. “Who’s the fourth?” 

“Doctor Banner. Obviously.” He looks at Loki, so-called god of mischief. “Doctor Banner gets upset when he doesn’t get what he wants, remember that. So, can you catch the Heir of Slytherin here up? Send him down if he says anything about gamma radiation or energy signatures.”

###### 3\. Widow

She almost walks right past him. In her debrief, she’ll say he was walking too slowly; but she doesn’t remember actually seeing him until she stops. 

“Agent Romanoff,” Loki acknowledges. 

“We put Stark on the other end of the ship. With the other civilians.” 

Loki shrugs. “I wanted to see what you have to offer.”

“We have an aircraft carrier that flies. Among other things. This is a storage level; there are crates. They’re labeled.” She waits a beat. “I can give you a tour.” 

“Show me where you mean to contain Thor,” he says. It’s a test, everything he’s done so far has been a test. She could deliver him back to Coulson, it would be consistent with the value SHIELD places on order. It is not likely that he is testing for consistency. Power is likely. Loyalty; submission. He told the crowd to kneel. (He’s watching her, now.) Sexual submission?

Loki makes a noise that sounds like a laugh being choked back. She stops. “I meant no offense.” He’s not doing the innocent-abroad act now; his slow-spreading smile pretends to know exactly where her thoughts were going.

“No?”

“None at all, Agent.” He looks her up and down. “You’re carrying six weapons too many for my tastes. At least.” 

Which means she was right. She takes him to the room that was built for the Hulk. 

He walks a complete circuit around the central tank, examines the panel and the catwalks. She offers no explanation. Busies herself resetting a com unit, and then canceling Coulson’s missing-civilian alert. “Will it hold?” she asks him when he turns to the door.

“Thor, yes. Mjolnir - perhaps.”

The door opens on Coulson, who gives her a brief nod. “When Thor first came here, he couldn’t lift the hammer at all. Could you do something like that?”

“Thor would not give me leave to cast spells on Mjolnir,” Loki smiles faintly. “Even before. I would need some other connection.”

He nods. “Just a thought. Stark wants your opinion on their tracking setup, if you have anything.” 

“I’ll make sure he gets there,” Natasha promises. And then, once they make the corridor, “wait.”

It’s still there in the less focused light of the hallways. “Your wound. There’s something wrong.” She gets him to a bathroom, locks herself into the small space with a possibly-compromised alien god. Pulls down the medical kit. Stark’s palladium poisoning looked like that, blue lines creeping out from his heart. Loki’s blue tracings aren’t any kind of human veins. And when he unwinds the bandages, the skin under his gashed sleeve is turning a deep, inhuman blue. 

He flexes his hand, twists his arm. “It does not impair me - do not touch it.” 

She halts, hand in midair. “Poison?”

“Cold.”

She nods, and moves slowly: the back of her hand to his cheek, then to the curve of his shoulder where the blue lines creep up. “You didn’t notice?”

“I am always cold.” Loki stares at his reflection. “I have worn this shape all my life, and Thor would strip me even of that. My so-called brother.” A ball of green light forms on his palm, and then he scowls. Loki’s hand is pale, corpse-toned even after the light fades, and then the armor he’d worn in Stuttgart is back, gloves over his hands. 

“It’s changing your appearance,” she hazards. “Into what?”

“Jotunn. Frost giant?” he prompts, as though she ought to have heard of it. “Thor...” He laughs, sourly. “Thor must believe me, finally. And Thor will be king.”

The first question on Natasha’s list is, ‘how giant?’ Followed by ‘how cold’ and ‘how does this affect your evaluation of the spear’s powers?’ Natasha crosses her arms, and says, “regimes fall every day. I tend not to cry over that, I’m Russian. Or I was.”

His eyes catch hers, in the mirror. Bright green. "What regime do you speak of? I have no interest in your local arrangements, Agent Romanoff.”

“Asgard’s bridge is broken. We can hold Thor here indefinitely. SHIELD has other facilities.” 

Loki nods, slowly. “And in return?”

“Clint Barton - the compromised agent. I want him back.”

“The throne of Asgard, in return for one mortal man. I wonder if he’s worth it.” Loki wrinkles his nose at the contents and extracts a package of bandages. “No.”

She frowns, very slightly. Loki’s attacks in New Mexico, his interest in SHIELD’s ability to imprison Thor, everything pointed to him making that deal. One time in a hundred, it really is that simple. Clint said that to her years ago, arm back and ready to take his shot. But she isn’t Clint, and Clint isn’t here. She smiles, reaches for the bandage. “No?”

The green flash shatters the mirror beside her. “No - you have nothing worth bargaining with. No, I will not trade with an insect for the throne of Asgard. _No_ \- you will not have your man back.” He smiles, cold and cruel. “Thor has taken him for a loyal servant. Thor will use him to get what he wants from this realm. And then he will crush him. Like an ant, under a boot. He won’t even notice he’s done it.” 

Her lips tighten; she reacts that much. “You will notice,” Natasha says.

“It is already forgotten,” Loki snarls, but his anger is directed - elsewhere. At Thor; at himself, perhaps. No-one wastes anger on insects. 

She looks at his reflections, prepares to wind cloth around a wound that’s too cold to bleed. “But I think you will remember.”

###### 4\. Laufeyson

These mortals. Insects, but they can’t believe it. They’ve gotten just high enough that they can’t imagine anything above them. The woman had the gall to offer him the throne of Asgard, as though she could help him take it with tricks and knives. If he wanted it.

He was raised for it; since Thor’s death, he has been chained to it, to dwell on his mistakes at the mercy of the Allfather. He had tried to prove himself a worthy son of Odin, knowing that he was not. That was his great error, and he has paid for it. 

Natasha Romanov reminds him of the queen - impossible promises, absurd requests. Frigga asked for both her sons returned home, when she only ever bore one. And she called him Laufeyson as though indulging a whim. Romanoff’s hands had the same steadiness. And some of that arrogance. But he did take the communications device, when she offered it. For the novelty of communication at a distance, and - well. Even a god can be annoyed by a swarm of bees. 

Thor Odinsson’s error is his refusal to entertain any option beyond direct battle. The mortals’ error is imagining Thor to be more sensible than he ever has been. When the floor tilts, they panic and scatter. He takes small joy in the wideness of Jane Foster’s eyes, before he leaves to find Thor.

Not to speak to him - all he has to offer Thor is a way home. And he can hardly offer that if Thor has an army at his back. Not without knowing how Thor got it, what promises he’s made. So he watches - lets Thor wear himself down fighting a creature he has no name for, before engaging. He lets Thor drive him back through the ship. Thor still carries that spear that reeks of magic. He holds it awkwardly, but still ends their fight by stabbing Loki clean through the chest. 

That image vanishes, and the second Loki backs into the glass cage, uses his own magic to slam its door between them. Enjoys, briefly, the shocked look on Thor’s face. He hasn’t forgotten how Thor refused to fight him. (And how good it felt, to strike him down.)

So he snaps the trap in Thor’s face, and Thor doesn’t know enough to be grateful.

"Will it give you peace to have me dead, Odinsson?" And when Thor does not answer, "the red button, there. This room will fall." He notes Thor's reaction to the word. But Thor turns away. He pounds on the glass, once. It does not shatter.

And he watches from there, as Thor murders the quiet man, the sensible one with the large gun. And then, Thor looks back at Loki inside the cell. In that moment, he only looks tired (like his father). And he presses the button. Loki holds the illusion until the cell falls out of sight; until Thor leaves. 

Then Loki climbs down from the catwalk, and kneels before the dying man. “You fought bravely, Coul’s son. Know that you will be avenged.”

The mortal manages a smile. “Rather know the medics are coming.” Still capable of speech. Surprising, these mortals. 

“I expect so.” He expects they will be too late; he has heard no great things of Midgardian healing. “There was an alarm, when the glass room dropped.” Liquid seeps between his fingers.

“You could stop him,” the man with the caved-in chest says, not unkindly, “but you lack conviction.” 

Loki starts to be offended; stops cold when he realizes: this man has given him _Mjolnir._ “The woman Romanoff has conviction; send her after Thor. Or your captain.” He laughs. “Only give me a few minutes first.”

The man manages a puzzled smile, and then the mortals arrive. He leaves them to their efforts.

###### 5\. Natasha

She calls him as soon as Barton’s down. And when she’s gotten him to a medical station. Again when he starts to wake up. Coulson isn’t answering either, so she’s mostly thinking of how she can get Barton to a plane, and where might be safe from both an invasion and SHIELD.

“Loki of Asgard. This is Agent Natasha Romanoff. If you can hear me, I am -”

There’s a knock; she opens the door just wide enough to let him in. “It works both ways,” she says, to cover her relief. 

“I have business to attend to. Be brief.”

Loki looks dead - blue-white face, reddened eyes, and blood on his hands. But he’s moving, and armored. “That’s not your blood.” 

“Agent Coulson challenged Thor. Brave, but unwise. This is Barton?”

“Yes. And?”

He waves a hand over Clint, which doesn’t appear to do anything, but doesn’t help his complexion any. “I see no magical influence. You broke the spell?”

“You could read my mind again; it would be faster. I hit him in the head.”

“That is not -”

“I hit him hard. You said it worked.” 

“Do not tell me what I said, woman. It is not _magic_. Are you done wasting my time?”

“Yes. Go.” The room is too small for three people, and she needs to deal with Clint, not worry about why the magician has Coulson’s blood on his hands, and what his plans are.

###### 6\. Bruce

Bruce is soaked to the skin within a minute, but the motorbike runs, and he has somewhere to be. Manhattan - there’s something about the storm there, it makes his skin itch. And, since he’s not comfortable relying on instinct: Stark has an office there. There’s another flash, that’s - more horizontal. For a second he can see every raindrop suspended in the flash, and. Just to see, he turns off, ahead and to the left.

Loki, kneeling at the edge of a burnt-out circle. He turns at the engine’s noise. “Doctor Banner. Well met.”

“Sure. Loki, right? What happened to the carrier?” The armor’s a giveaway, but he’s blue - more Indian than Norse, as gods go. Whatever difference that makes.

“Damaged. Thor took the women, and left it burning.” Loki smiles. With the red eyes, the effect is diabolical. “Do you hear? The thunder has stopped.”

“That’s good? Look, I can give you a lift if you’re heading that way.” Loki looks at the bike critically. Probably not impressed by the borrowed clothes, either. But he shrugs, in the end.

Loki waits until his back is turned. “You aren’t curious.”

“I just fell off a flying aircraft carrier and woke up naked in a pile of rubble. So, no.”

“I am,” Loki says, settling on the back of the bike. “Do you intend to challenge Thor? like this?

Bruce grins a little “Oh, no.”

###### 7\. Stark

“So. Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis?” His tower is occupied territory, there’s a machine using his power to summon up an alien army, and Tony Stark is, thank God, out of the suit and pouring himself a drink. Playing the host, but Thor isn’t biting. 

“They are safe. I would not place them in the middle of a battlefield.”

“Yeah? Good call. So while we’re making good decisions - call off this invasion.”

“I may not. Must not.”

“Don’t see why not. Loki’s your problem, isn’t he, and Loki’s here on Earth. You bring this army in, you’re fighting everyone. If it’s just you -” he shrugs “- we might be able to overlook what’s happened so far.” 

“You ask me to surrender before the battle even begins.”

“Yeah, I do, since you’re going to lose. Quitting would be the smart thing to do.”

“How can I fail? A Chitauri army against what forces your puny, divided world can muster.”

“You have an army; we have a Hulk.” And he doesn’t actually have an army yet. Then things start happening very quickly. Thor tries to use the spear to put a whammy on him - and when it bounces off the arc reactor he’s still stuck on _how did I not see that coming_ and makes the obvious joke on autopilot, aloud. 

Round two: Tony calls for Jarvis and runs for it. Thor lands ahead of him, cracking the deck with that hammer. “So you’re going to, what, with that? Take me out like you did Coulson? You remember Phil Coulson. He had you pegged as one of the good guys. I guess he wasn’t disappointed in you for long.” 

But he can’t buy enough time, and Thor raises his hammer, and - falls over backwards from the weight of it. Which is the funniest thing he’s ever seen, until Thor gets up and tries to lift it. He stops laughing long enough to get out, “Seriously - please, just call it a day.”

Thor throws him through the window, into the storm.

###### 8\. Captain America

The Valkyrie drops pretty much out of nowhere, and Steve doesn’t know protocol for that. There probably isn’t one yet. That’s one thing about this Asgard business: it’s so new he’s not seventy years behind. He tries a wave. She waves back.

“Miss, we’re making a perimeter here - “ 

Another onslaught catches them before he can finish. When he reaches her, she’s yanking her sword out of a Chitauri’s chest.

“You’re Sif, from Asgard?” There was a video in the files SHIELD gave him.

“I am.” She looks pleased to be recognized.

“Captain America. Steve. We could use some help here.” 

He gets on the radio as soon as he gets some distance. 

“Sif is formidable warrior,” Loki says. “Keep her pointed towards the Chitauri, Captain, until you know her purpose. And away from Thor. And from me.”

“Fine. We’ve got plenty to handle down here.” Enough to keep him from asking Loki why he assumes she’ll side with Thor.

“And, Captain - she sleeps with her sword.”

He doesn’t get it. Stark laughs, though, which gives him a pretty good idea. “No chatter on the line, people.”

They pull it off. 

Except for Phil Coulson, everyone he can put a name to is still standing. Thor offers his surrender to Tony Stark, then limps into a SHIELD helicopter. The warrior-woman Sif follows him like a bodyguard. The rest of them stumble into some restaurant Stark remembers seeing, and they sweep the broken glass off the table themselves.

###### 9\. Barton

Stark’s shawarma is just like every other post-mission meal he’s ever had. It’s always disappointing somehow. And it’s always when he starts thinking about the ways he fucked up the mission. There’s always something. Like working for the wrong side. 

The company’s weirder this time. Tony Stark: quit making weapons, still believes in an eye for an eye. Captain America, an actual hero. Doctor Bruce Banner - he’d known the Hulk could take Thor, and somewhere in all the reasons he’s pissed off is that Odinsson hadn’t listened.

That’s what the brother calls him: Odinsson. Odinsson had poured his heart out about his brother, Loki, who’d gone mad and conspired with the Jotunn to steal the throne. Who might be one himself - he’s bluer than a Smurf now and was throwing ice around in the battle, so Clint’s going to take that as proven. But Loki vouched for him, and whatever gets a weapon back in his hand and pointed in the right direction is mostly okay with him.

And it isn’t bad, as post-mission meals go. When he finally puts his finger on it: it’s the silence. For once, _everyone_ at the table gets that this is the time to shut up and eat and absorb the trauma. Which is good. 

Loki’s plan, best they know it, involves him, Thor, the warrior-woman, and that cube all disappearing into thin air. Which would also be good. If it happens.

Stark starts snapping his fingers towards the rear of the restaurant, and Clint realizes that America, Loki, and Banner are all about done with seconds.

###### 10\. Hill

06:00 _Activity alarm. Agent M. Hill, ranking officer aboard the SHIELD helicarrier, has inspected and verifies that the Tesseract device is present, in the shielded carrying case provided by Dr. Eric Selvig,. No visual evidence of abnormal activity._

6:03 _Agent M. Hill, ranking officer aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, has inspected and verifies that Thor Odinsson’s Spear is _absent_. Agent Hill requests visual verification of the whereabouts of Thor Odinsson. Agent Hill requests visual verification of the Phase 2 materials. Agent Hill requests that Agent Romanoff report ASAP._

Agent Hill crosses her arms and leans against the bulkhead, and watches the snake that’s coiled up on the table where they’d put Odinsson’s spear yesterday. Blue-streaked. Lethargic. By the time Romanoff shows up, she’s already lost the staring contest.

**Author's Note:**

> Because in this universe, the immediate sequel is Snakes on a Plane. That is what happens when you let Loki join the Avengers. Thanks for reading!


End file.
